This invention relates to vehicular body work systems and in particular to an improved vehicle frame straightening apparatus.
Since the dawn of the automotive age, there has been a need for automotive bodywork. Originally, frame damage was minimal and bodywork was restricted to the repair of dents in the vehicle using hammers and mallets. On occasion, frame damage was sustained. Because of the relatively light weight of vehicles and the slow speeds at which they operated, such damage was usually slight and no corrective action was necessary.
As the speed of automotive travel and as the weight of vehicle bodies increased, so did the frequency and severity of frame damage. The complexity of auto body repair increased correspondingly.
At present there are two basic approaches to body work, namely frame pulling and frame pushing. The former approach involves the attachment of chains to the vehicle frame and the application of tension to pull the frame into a desired shape. Frame pushing involves the positioning of posts at particular points along the frame and the application of pressure to push the frame into the desired shape.
There is much to commend the frame pulling approach. The apparatus is often lighter and cheaper. Moreover, most vehicular collisions result in the frame being bent inward, so that a frame pulling apparatus may be conveniently set up outside the frame, to pull the frame outward.
However, notwithstanding the foregoing, it is generally recognized that the frame pushing approach is superiour to the frame pulling approach. This is because of the limited number of points on a vehicle frame to which the chains of a frame pulling apparatus may be attached. Furthermore, the use of chains to apply tension generally introduces a downward force component in addition to the desired lateral force component, which must be taken into account. Accordingly, the quality of the repair using such an apparatus is generally sub-optimal.
On the other hand, frame pushing posts need not be fastened to the frame, but merely moved into place. Moreover, frame pushing does not introduce any vertical force component.
The drawback to the frame pushing approach has been that the apparatus is generally larger, heavier and bulkier. Solid posts are required, as compared to chains. This is compounded by the fact that the apparatus must generally be installed inside the frame in order to push the inward-facing deformities outward.
Therefore, frame pushing apparata have required the vehicle under repair to be positioned above ground, in order to permit the solid posts, which exceed the ground clearance height for the vehicle, to be inserted from below the vehicle.
Furthermore, set-up times for frame pushing machines are typically much longer than those for frame pulling machines, although these too may eclipse the actual time required to conduct the actual repair.
Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,907,925 entitled Automobile Frame Straightening Machine issued to Wochner on May 9, 1933, there is disclosed a frame pushing apparatus comprising a pair of elevated longitudinal rails adapted to accept the wheels of the vehicle to be repaired. A pair of ramped rails extends from ground level to the elevated rails to permit the vehicle to be wheeled onto the elevated rails. Transverse rails extend below the elevated rails and solid one-piece pushing posts are attached thereon to extend above the surface of the elevated rails and engage the frame body, taking advantage of the increased ground clearance of the vehicle while on the elevated rails.
Because of the different wheel bases of vehicles, the separation between the elevated rails in the Wochner apparatus must be adjusted for every vehicle. In effect, the apparatus must be repositioned and rebuilt for every repair operation. Further, the wheeling of the vehicle up the ramps and onto the elevated rails is somewhat precarious. As a result, the set-up time required may be considerable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,597,234 entitled Frame Straightening Device and issued May 20, 1952 to Elam, there is disclosed a portable device consisting of a single rail from which extends a solid one-piece pushing rod and a holding rod. The Elam device avoids the problem of ground clearance because it is small enough to be inserted under the vehicle while on its side and stood upright once in position. Indeed, there is no requirement that the Elam device be stood upright on the ground, much less secured to it.
Rather, the Elam device requires that the rail be positioned so that the holding rod engages a portion of the frame that is not susceptible to bending and acts as a bracing point for the pushing rod as it applies pressure to the frame portion to be repaired.
Because of its portable nature, the Elam device must necessarily be completely repositioned for every repair activity, even when, as is often the case, multiple repairs must be effected on the same frame. Accordingly, the set-up time for the Elam device may also be considerable.
More importantly, the Elam device is necessarily restricted in the nature of repairs that may be effected because of the need to locate a bracing point elsewhere on the frame. In this regard, the Elam apparatus suffers from the deficiencies noted above in respect to frame-pulling apparata.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,526 entitled Automotive Frame Straightening Apparatus and issued Nov. 2, 1993 to Teixeria, there is disclosed an apparatus comprising a plurality of solid towers in slidable engagement along three sides of a grooved rectangular frame. The towers provide both pushing/holding elements and pulling elements, but the vehicle is loaded onto the frame along the fourth side and positioned inside all of the towers. The pushing/holding elements thus only apply pressure from the outside of the frame inward. In essence, then, the Teixeria device acts as a frame pulling apparatus. Moreover, because the solid towers are mounted outside the vehicle frame, there is no concern about ground clearance.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved vehicle frame straightening apparatus.
It is further desirable to provide an improved apparatus that provides the advantages of the frame pushing approaches without the disadvantages of slow and difficult set-up previously associated with such approaches.
It is still further desirable to provide an improved apparatus that permits frame pushing repair from the interior of the vehicle frame without concern for ground clearance.
The present invention accomplishes these aims by providing a frame straightening apparatus using vertical posts positioned under the vehicle to push outward to straighten deformities in the frame. The apparatus is lightweight, strong and easily configurable from beside the vehicle under repair, without requiring increased ground clearance. The apparatus comprises a pair of floor rails bolted to, embedded within or forming part of the floor of the repair facility. The top of each floor rail has a partially closed channel into which a series of bolts can be inserted and slid longitudinally along the rail. The bolts can be used to quickly fasten and adjust a transverse U-shaped pushing rail and one or more transverse holding rails. The pushing rail has a series of bores along each leg, to which a U-shaped pivot base may be attached using pins. The pivot base is short enough to clear the undercarriage of a vehicle under repair positioned over the floor rails. A pushing post may then be positioned into place and quickly fastened into place at the top of the pivot base using pins. The pushing post pivots about the pivot base and, under the force of a ram assembly attached at the other end to the pushing rail, can apply pushing pressure on the frame of the vehicle under repair. Each holding rail permits a sliding post to slide along its length. One of the sliding posts may conveniently be short enough to clear the undercarriage of the vehicle under repair. A holding post may be positioned into place and quickly fastened into place at the top of the sliding post using pins. The holding post grips the exterior of the vehicle frame and is held in position by a chain attached at its other end to the holding rail. Diamond repairs may be effected using a set of diamond rails comparable to and abutting the floor rails in a transverse direction. Minor downward frame pulling repairs may be effected by the use of a pulley assembly attached to the pushing rail and a chain assembly. The apparatus may be conveniently mounted onto the bed of a towed platform to permit remote repairs.
According to a first broad aspect of an embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed a vehicle frame straightening apparatus comprising a substantially upright post for engagement with the floor on which the vehicle rests, and adapted to apply pressure between the floor and outward on a deformity in the frame from under the vehicle, whereby the post may be placed into position against the deformity from beside the vehicle without requiring an increase in the vehicle""s ground clearance.
According to a second broad aspect of an embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed a vehicle frame straightening apparatus comprising a substantially upright post adapted to engage a rail to be mounted transversely to a series of rails fixed to the floor on which the vehicle rests, and adapted to apply pressure between the floor and outward on a deformity in the frame from under the vehicle by a ram engaged there between, wherein the vehicle may be held in position by at least one holding assembly adapted to engage the vehicle frame from the outside and to engage to a second rail to be mounted transversely to the rails fixed to the floor, and wherein the post comprises a substantially upright lower portion and an upper portion adapted to be pivotally attached thereto in order to extend its height and wherein the lower portion does not exceed the ground clearance of the vehicle, whereby the post may be placed into position against the deformity from beside the vehicle, without requiring an increase in the vehicle""s ground clearance.